Carriers
A Carrier is a person exposed to the Infection who appears asymptomatic due to a natural resistance to symptoms but lacks an immune response to degrade the disease. Without degradation, the person "carries" the disease in their body and can unintentionally transmit the disease to others rendering carriers a threat to public safety. The application of "Carriers" to the Left 4 Dead world is a story element that, until recently, was primarily shrouded in mystery. As presented in the most recent comic series "The Sacrifice," it appears that the carriers concept will play an important role in the future of the Left 4 Dead series. Aside evidence from the comic, there are random graffiti, in-game conversations, and posters throughout the game that suggest how carriers were handled by both CEDA and the military. __toc__ Confirmed Carriers The following Left 4 Dead characters have been confirmed to be carriers of the Infection from the Sacrifice Comic: * Bill * Francis * Louis * Zoey * Military doctor In the Sacrifice comic, the military doctor claims Bill and Zoey, as well as himself, are all carriers. Louis and Francis' status as carriers is never explicitly stated, however from the way Louis reacts in The Sacrifice comic (part 2), it is suggested that he received some (unseen) information (most likely from the guards) confirming himself and Francis to be carriers. It is unknown whether Coach, Nick, Rochelle, Ellis, are carriers or just immune (it seems that as far Valve is concerned though, "carriers" and "immunes" are the same thing, where 'immune' likely references innate immunity), however, considering that the helicopter pilot from the end of Dark Carnival became infected after rescuing the Survivors, it would pretty safe to say that they are carriers, if there is a distinction between the two in the Left 4 Dead universe. But then again, the pilot of the helicopter may have been infected before rescuing the Survivors (much like the helicopter pilot from "No Mercy") and cannot be definitively confirmed either way. CEDA/Containment To learn of a carrier, there must have been proof that someone who was asymptomatic was infecting normal healthy people. Therefore, it's likely that CEDA inadvertently caused the infection of thousands by grouping all non-infected individuals together before realizing that there were carriers among them. The next step would have been to quarantine and test each asymptomatic survivor to see if they tested positive for the Green Flu . Such tests would likely have taken quite a while, and the general population would probably have little to no patience to wait. If CEDA was overrun by unruly citizens fleeing the infection, then containment would have failed and CEDA was likely pulled from running the show. The Military When containment turns into a calamity, desperate measures are necessary. This includes bringing in more powerful guns and deadly force into an already lose-lose scenario. From evidence presented in the games, the military was brought in with one thing on their mind, stop the spread of the infection by any means necessary. After consulting with the remaining members of CEDA, army medical scientists would have to first come up with a new scenario that helps identify carriers. Thus, a "save now, ask later" procedure would likely have been presumed as the the safest option. In such a parameter, any and all non-infected individuals were extracted from the contaminated cities using heavily armed and impenetrable vehicles i.e. helicopters and/or steel-plated/reinforced ATV's. Upon safe arrival at a central post, all survivors would be quarantined together and determined if they were immune or carriers. The next step is unknown. There is graffiti which supports that the military were separating carriers from immune survivors. At the same time, there is additional grafitti that claims the military were lining up carriers against a firing squad. Besides graffiti, there has been no concrete evidence as to what happened next. By the time the Parish Campaign had started, the military was carpet bombing entire cities. The air-strikes weren't very surgical (since most of the missiles miss the Survivors in the campaign) which suggests that the military had pulled out, surmising that any remaining evacuees had become infected or been killed. Otherwise, they would only be targeting infected instead of doing clean sweeps. As with other story elements in Left 4 Dead, there is an extremely large hole in explaining the military's involvement in containment and with carriers. As of the end of Left 4 Dead 2, the military were still in charge of containment and are therefore also in charge of carriers. Notes * A comment from Bill in Mercy Hospital in the elevator suggests that his group of Survivors, including himself, could turn at any moment. This indicates that he may be concerned that they are all Carriers who are just extremely resistant to the Infection, but may turn eventually. ** As heard in the beta, Bill seemed to be quite paranoid that any of the Survivors could turn into the Infected at any moment. ** Alternatively, Bill may just be concerned that the Survivors' immunity may not last forever, and that he does not want to live if he becomes an Infected. ** The Sacrifice confirms the fact that the Survivors are all carriers. ** As told in the comic, the carrier gene is passed down from the father, as why Zoey has a breakdown in the comic when she learns that she killed her father at his request due to his belief he was infected. * It is unknown exactly how the virus spreads from a Carrier to an uninfected person. CEDA signs and Survivor graffiti has confirmed that it was originally believed to be an airborne virus, but isn't. A soldier also panics when Zoey knocks off his protective mask by saying, "Don't breathe on me..don't bleed on me..don't touch me", which indicates that perhaps the Infection can spread through either the air, fluids, or by direct contact. # The military doctor in The Sacrifice comic contradicts the anti-airborne theory by telling the Survivors that "sometimes it's airborne, sometimes it's not." He follows-up by telling them that the Infection continues to mutate every day, basically saying it's unpredictable, making it very hard to cure. # It is suggested that the Infection can spread through fluids, such as blood or bile. It is unclear if Boomer Bile can spread the Infection. # It is also implied through the quarantine of Carriers and the "Wash your hands" signs that the Infection spreads upon contact. This is further supported by the Church Guy, who became infected after he was bitten. Zoey's mother seems to have been Infected through a bite, and she turns soon after being bitten. * When the new Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2 tell the soldiers that they are immune (during The Bridge chapter), Papa Gator asks Rescue 7 if he is equipped for Carriers, which Rescue 7 acknowledges. This indicates that they are concerned that the Survivors are Carriers. However, seeing as they are covered in Infected blood, guts, spit, and bile, it is likely that the military would need an Infection-proof helicopter to transport them until they can be decontaminated (or killed so they can't infect anyone). * Several pieces of graffiti indicate that the military are just lining people against a wall and shooting them in a firing-squad type of manner. ** Several other Survivors have countered this by saying that they are Infected and are being shot to protect everyone. Despite the military's harsh nature, Survivor graffiti states they still seem to prefer the military over CEDA. * In the Sacrifice Comic, the Military refers to the original Survivors as "Tango Mikes". It is unclear if this is a term for Carriers or Survivors. ** It is revealed in The Sacrifice comic that the original Survivors are Carriers so it is likely that the new Survivors are Carriers as well. ** "Tango Mike" is "T.M." as spelt using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. This codifier almost certainly originates from the infamous real-life asymptomatic carrier "Typhoid Mary", who shares the acronym "T.M.". References Category:The Survivors Category:Left 4 Dead 2 Category:The Infected Category:Left 4 Dead